COVE

In On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums, Barbara Black explores the impact of Victorian imperialism on the translation by Edward FitzGerald of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám. She acknowledges the imperialist power of empire that the West orchestrated, suggesting that some gift books have appropriated the poem “by de-emphasizing its otherness and focusing instead on the familiarity…of FitzGerald’s translation,” (Black 61). One way in which the West did this was by creating the importance of owning an edition of the poem just as much as, if not more than, reading the actual text (Black 61). By focusing heavily on the beauty of the edition, sometimes by incorporating jewels or locks on the binding, there became a privileged sensibility in having the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám in one’s home collection. 

As it was mentioned in the description of this edition, what makes Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia interesting is the detailed illustrations by Elihu Vedder. These illustrations, however, are also what amplify this edition as a gift book. Its gold-blocked binding suggests its focus on being a part of a home collection, with its first impression being focused on beauty. When opening the page, a reader would be immediately introduced to Vedder’s illustrations, taking in the beauty yet again and perhaps gaining a desire to add the edition to one’s home library. Ultimately, this focus on beauty suggests that this edition was made for the purpose of being a gift book, and this purpose connects to Black’s argument, creating a sense of appropriation and focusing more heavily on the familiarity of FitzGerald’s Westernized translation.

While Vedder’s illustrations are unique and constructively beautiful, there are still aspects of them that could support Black’s argument. One of the earlier illustrations, which occurs before the stanzas of the poem, depicts a group of people, outside and inside a stone wall with elements of vines at the top. At the center is a quote that states “Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit / Of This & That endeavor and dispute / Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape / Than sadden after none or bitter, Fruit”, which is noted as quatrain 29 in the 2nd edition. What makes this illustration, along with the rest that follow, support Black’s argument is the Classical elements within them. Not only is Elihu Vedder not a Persian artist, but he also spent the majority of his life in Italy, eventually dying in the heart of the country, Rome. It makes sense why he would have such a heavy influence of Classical art. However, these Classical elements are what Edward FitzGerald’s audience would’ve been more familiar with. Even though the poem is of Persian origin, there is a lack of Persian representation in the illustrations. Here, in this illustration (see fig. 1), we see figures who seem like they could be from Greek mythology. There are multiple figures that have vine-like crowns. One figure displays a spear, held up right, with an angled figure sitting near their lap. The wardrobe is also Classical in nature, with draping robes of clothing on their bodies. Instead of the illustration sharing elements that would emphasize its Persian origin, it creates a familiarized drawing. Even though the West may not dress in this manner, nor does their industry look like the setting of the illustration, this kind of art still has a familiarity to it. It doesn’t appear as ‘foreign’ as Persian art might. It is actively removing itself from Persia, attracting to the white, Westernized society. 

Another aspect of this edition, alongside the Classical artistic choices in the illustrations, that contributes to Black’s argument are the differences in the biographical sketches of Omar Khayyám and Edward FitzGerald (see fig. 2 & 3). Within the first page of each of the biographical sketches, there are differences that amplify a sense of orientalism and support Black’s argument of sticking to what is familiar to Western society. In the sketch of Omar Khayyám, the author situates him as a foreign figure, connecting him to other figures of the time that may be ‘more familiar’. The text states, “the slender story of his life is curiously twined about that of two other very considerable figures…This was Nizám-ul-Mulk…and Malik Shah the grandson, of Toghrul Beg the Tarter, who had wrested Persia from the feeble Successor of Mahmúd the Great, and founded that Seljukian Dynasty which finally roused Europe into the Crusades,” (figure 2). In situating his narrative around the Crusades, not only does it create a sense of familiarity for a Christian society, but it also whitewashes the narrative of Khayyám. That addition to the text ultimately diminishes the original author and the Persian culture, assuming that the only way for Westernized readers to understand the context is by establishing it around Christianity and Westernized elements of history. If we compare this biographical sketch to the one surrounding Edward FitzGerald, we can see this idea furthered as it states within the first line that, “Edward FitzGerald, whom the world has already learned, in spite of his own efforts to remain within the shadow of anonymity…” (figure 3). Here, it is immediately established that the ‘world’ is already aware of who FitzGerald is. Yet, that is clearly not the case, it being an exaggeration. That detail in the first line furthers the idea of what is familiar. Because FitzGerald was an Englishman, he is assumed to be already known; he is assumed to be the one who doesn’t need an explanation of his name. The differences between the two, even if subtle, contribute to Barbara Black’s argument, emphasizing the appropriative gaze towards the Persian poem and culture, fixating it around the West. Even if the book holds beauty, that beauty and context are still working in favor of the West, the familiarity, and pushing away from any kind of otherness. 

Work Cited

Black, Barbara J. On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums. University of Virginia Press, 2000.

Omar Khayyam. Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, Rendered into English Verse. [Vedder popular edition], Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1894.

Elihu Vedder | Smithsonian American Art Museum. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/elihu-vedder-5138. Accessed 1 May 2025.